A snapshot of the papacies of the 11 modern popes that preceded Pope Francis, from Pope Benedict XVI to Blessed Pope Pius IX.

VATICAN CITY — A silver wand in hand, Cardinal Luigi Oreglia stood at the door to Pope Leo XIII’s bedchamber on July 20, 1903. It was early, about 1:30 a.m. The 93-year-old pope had been sick ...

Headlines about the missing Fisherman’s Ring splashed boldly across front pages days after Pope Leo XIII died. “Ring was stolen,” a headline in The Forum reported on July 25, 1903. . “It ...

Pope Leo XIII distinguished himself as a clear thinker and courageous leader, not only anticipating the advent of communism but, in Rerum Novarum, succinctly articulating the Catholic case against ...

As late as 1903, at the death of Pope Leo XIII, this verification was ritually done by tapping the forehead of the pope with a silver hammer. It may also have been done with Pope John XXIII ...

The basilica is the resting place of seven other popes, but this is the first papal burial outside the Vatican since Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903 and was entombed in another Roman basilica in 1924.

The basilica is the resting place of seven other popes, but this is the first papal burial outside the Vatican since Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903 and was entombed in another Roman basilica in 1924.